Heritage Tourism

Heritage Tourism celebrates our region’s rich heritage and highlights our cultural resources. 

 Washtenaw County Heritage Tourism offers driving routes to guide visitors and locals through the County's cities, villages, and rural areas. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a well-managed tourism improves the local economy and its quality of life, and also builds community pride. Check out these tours and get to know your community!


Check out VAMONDE, an app that guides you through our heritage tours using Google Maps.

Use this QR code to get started:

Washtenaw Heritage Tours QR Code


Agriculture

Heritage Foodways Story Map

Foodways is a cultural heritage tour that highlights the local food traditions of Washtenaw County from a culinary history lens, featuring the foods and stories of the many different peoples of the County and including recipes presented with the goal of preparation with locally-grown foods.

Download the tour on your smartphone and follow the map to each destination. Check out the Vamonde mobile app on iTunes. or Google Play. (after downloading the app, search for "Washtenaw County").

Barn

Washtenaw County Historic Barns Tour Story Map

Follow the Historic Barns Tour  through Bridgewater, Manchester, and Sharon townships to see examples of nineteenth and twentieth century structures associated with one of the region's strongest industries: agriculture. 

Download the tour on your smartphone and follow the map to each destination. Check out the Vamonde mobile app on iTunes. or Google Play. (after downloading the app, search for "Washtenaw County").

 Download the 2007 Historic Barn Tour (PDF).

Greek Architecture

Greek Revival Architecture Tour Story Map

Greek Revival Architecture in Washtenaw County is expressed through a range of building materials (from fired and adobe brick to wood siding to cobblestone) and a variety of forms from the early settlement through the post-Civil War period.

Download the tour on your smartphone and follow the map to each destination. Check out the Vamonde mobile app on iTunes. or Google Play. (after downloading the app, search for "Washtenaw County").

 Download the 2007 Greek Revival Tour (PDF).

Log Cabin

Esek Pray Trail Tour Story Map

The Esek Pray Trail travels through Superior Township and features a variety of exceptional nineteenth century residences, one-room schoolhouses, and other resources tied to the family of Esek Pray, a founding leader of the State of Michigan, and his contemporaries. 

Download the tour on your smartphone and follow the map to each destination. Check out the Vamonde mobile app on iTunes. or Google Play. (after downloading the app, search for "Washtenaw County").

Download the 2007 Esek Pray Trail Tour (PDF).

German Agricultural Heritage

German Agricultural Heritage Tour Story Map

On the German Heritage Tour, tourists venture onto the back roads of Freedom, Lodi, and Scio townships to witness a landscape dotted with traditional farmsteads associated with the State's largest and first German settlement. 

Download the tour on your smartphone and follow the map to each destination. Check out the Vamonde mobile app on iTunes. or Google Play. (after downloading the app, search for "Washtenaw County").

Download the 2007 German Agricultural Tour (PDF).

Willow Run

Willow Run: Arsenal of Democracy Story Map

This web based story map tour integrates images of the Willow Run Bomber Plant, B-24 Bombers and Rosie the Riveter, and goes beyond popular history to give a glimpse of everyday life for those who participated in the war effort in the Ypsilanti region.

Ann Arbor Modern

Ann Arbor Modern Tour

Sample the extensive residential work undertaken by architecture professors at the University of Michigan for their colleagues and other professionals in the Ann Arbor Hills neighborhood between 1950 and 1970. This period of building resulted in a remarkable collection of fine architect-designed homes in the Modern style.This was the first in a series of Mid Century Modern tours throughout Michigan. More information is available on the Michigan Modern website and the a2 Modern website.